Nate Zaugg

President / CTO

I have been programming since I was around 5. I absolutely loved having the computer do exactly as I told it. My computer didn't work very well either so I'd have to write a game before I could play it, and when the power shut off, I'd have to write the game again to play it again.

I always knew I wanted to be a software engineer, so I tried to do all I could in High School including taking the AP computers class and lettering in Computer Science (possibly the only one to have ever done that before). I got my first professional job when I was 15 writing computerized testing and distance learning programs for Salt Lake Community College. While seeking a degree at Weber State University in Computer Science, I worked for their Student Affairs IT staff as a software engineer. I wrote many apps that are still in use today including web apps for note keeping, student body voting, nontrad daycare, equipment rental, tutor scheduling, and more. I also lead the transition among our team from ASP to ASP.NET.

A little while after I graduated, I started working for a consulting company. I really enjoyed the challenge of working in different projects for different industries. I developed a habit for studying and keeping up with current technology that I keep to this day. This really helped me in this demanding career choice. I also really liked to teach. I became a founding member of Utah Geek Events in July of 2010. We put on community training for local professionals, including Utah Code Camp, Big Mountain Data, SQL Saturday, Sharepoint Saturday, Kids Code Camp, and various other tech launches, summits, and trainings.

While I really loved consulting, I didn't really love the consulting companies I worked for. The first one felt too much like an HR / Staffing company. The second one wasn't much better there, plus I didn't really like the company culture. That is when I decided I needed to start my own company that would be a tech company first! I also wanted to make sure that our company was a great place to work for everyone who worked for us. So in 2012 Mindfire Technology was born. While I enjoyed early success, I knew that while I could do pretty much any tech project out there, I needed a business partner to focus on the business and sales. That's when I approached Shane about becoming a partner in Mindfire. We saw eye to eye on just about everything that was important, and we knew the partnership and venture was going to work.

It's been a great partnership and we've been able to bring our various skills and strengths to the table to make Mindfire an awesome company! While we've had our successes and setbacks over the years, we've seen some pretty awesome times and we know the best times are ahead.